1991 in literature
The year 1991 in literature involved some significant events and new books. Events *Douglas Coupland publishes the novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularizing the term Generation X as the name of the generation. *The body of novelist Alain-Fournier is identified, 77 years after his death in World War I, and is interred at Saint-Remy-la-Calonne. New books * Martin Amis – Time's Arrow: or the Nature of the Offense * Jeffrey Archer – As the Crow Flies * Beryl Bainbridge – The Birthday Boys * Clive Barker – Imajica * Pat Barker – Regeneration * Louis Begley – Wartime Lies * Louis de Bernieres – Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord * A. S. Byatt – Possession: A Romance * Agatha Christie – Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories * Tom Clancy – The Sum of All Fears * Mary Higgins Clark – Loves Music, Loves to Dance * Hugh Cook – The Werewolf and the Wormlord * Paul Cornell – Timewyrm: Revelation * Bernard Cornwell – Stormchild * Douglas Coupland – Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture * L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine Crook de Camp – The Pixilated Peeress * Don DeLillo – Mao II * Terrance Dicks – Timewyrm: Exodus * Stephen R. Donaldson – The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story * Stephen R. Donaldson – The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge * Roddy Doyle – The Van * Bret Easton Ellis – American Psycho * Stephen Fry – The Liar * Jostein Gaarder – Sophie's World (Sofies verden) * John Gardner – The Man from Barbarossa * David Gates – ''Jernigan * Ann Granger – Say It With Poison * John Grisham – The Firm * Josephine Hart – Damage * Elisabeth Harvor, Our Lady of All Distances 11 stories (revision of Women and Children, published in 1973), Canada * Mark Jacobson – Gojiro * Stephen King – Needful Things * John le Carré – The Secret Pilgrim * Morgan Llywelyn – Druids * James A. Michener – Mexico * Rohinton Mistry – Such a Long Journey * Timothy Mo – The Redundancy of Courage * John Peel – Timewyrm: Genesys * Marge Piercy – He, She and It * Terry Pratchett – Reaper Man and Witches Abroad * Alexandra Ripley – Scarlett * J. Jill Robinson – Saltwater Trees * Nigel Robinson – Timewyrm: Apocalypse * Bernice Rubens – A Solitary Grief * Norman Rush – Mating * Michael Shaara – For Love of the Game (posthumously published) * Sidney Sheldon – The Doomsday Conspiracy * Jane Smiley – A Thousand Acres * Danielle Steel – Heartbeat * James B. Stewart – Den of Thieves * Michael Swanwick – Gravity's Angels * Amy Tan – The Kitchen God's Wife * Andrew Vachss – Sacrifice * Martin Waddell - Farmer Duck * Bernard Werber – Empire of the Ants (in orig. French ''Les Fourmis) * Tim Winton – Cloudstreet * Helen Zahavi – Dirty Weekend * Timothy Zahn – Heir to the Empire * Haifa Zangana – Through the Vast Halls of Memory * Roger Zelazny – Prince of Chaos * Avi – Nothing But the Truth * G. Clifton Wisler – Red Cap (Book) New drama *Ariel Dorfman – Death and the Maiden *Philip Ridley – The Pitchfork Disney *Neil Simon – Lost in Yonkers Non-fiction *Dionne Brand – No Burden to Carry: Narratives of Black Working Women in Ontario *Henry Steele Commager – Churchill's History of the English-Speaking Peoples, arranged for one volume *Dave Foreman – Confessions of an Eco-Warrior *Jung Chang – Wild Swans *Madonna – SEX *Robert K. Massie – Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War *P.J. O'Rourke – Parliament of Whores *Thomas Pakenham – The Scramble for Africa *William Pokhlyobkin – A History of Vodka *John Richardson – A Life of Picasso *Simon Schama – Dead Certainties *Naomi Wolf – The Beauty Myth *Zhang Chengzhi – History of the Soul Poetry Births * Rachel McAteer, 9 May 1991 Deaths * January 22 – Robert Choquette, Canadian novelist and poet * January 23 – Northrop Frye, literary critic * January 29 – Yasushi Inoue, historian * February 24 – John Daly, journalist, game show host *March – Paul Engle, novelist * April 3 – Graham Greene * April 12 – James Schuyler, poet * April 29 – Claude Gallimard, French publishing magnate * May 3 – Jerzy Kosinski, Polish-American novelist * July 24 – Isaac Bashevis Singer * August 17 – Terence Kilmartin, Irish journalist and translator * September 24 – Dr. Seuss * October 11 – Steven Jesse Bernstein, performance poet * October 12 – Arkady Strugatsky, Russian science fiction writer * October 27 – George Barker, poet * November 29 – Frank Yerby, historical novelist *''date unknown'' – Dante Milano, poet Awards * Nobel Prize for Literature: Nadine Gordimer Australia * The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Andrew McGahan, Praise * C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Jennifer Maiden, The Winter Baby * Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Jennifer Maiden, The Winter Baby * Mary Gilmore Prize: Jean Kent – Verandahs Canada * See 1991 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards. France * Prix Goncourt: Pierre Combescot, Les Filles du Calvaire * Prix Décembre: Raphaël Confiant, Eau de café * Prix Médicis: Pierre Simon, La Dérive des sentiments United Kingdom * Booker Prize: Ben Okri, The Famished Road * Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Berlie Doherty, Dear Nobody * Cholmondeley Award: James Berry, Sujata Bhatt, Michael Hulse, Derek Mahon * Eric Gregory Award: Roddy Lumsden, Glyn Maxwell, Stephen Smith, Wayne Burrows, Jackie Kay * Guardian Fiction Award: Alan Judd, The Devil's Own Work * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Iain Sinclair, Downriver * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Darwin * Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Judith Wright * Whitbread Best Book Award: John Richardson, A Life of Picasso * The Sunday Express Book of the Year: Michael Frayn, A Landing on the Sun United States * Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Julia Kasdorf, Sleeping Preacher * Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: John Frederick Nims * American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry: Richard Wilbur * Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Donald Hall, The Museum of Clear Ideas * Compton Crook Award: Michael Flynn, In the Country of the Blind * Frost Medal: Donald Hall * Nebula Award: Michael Swanwick, Stations of the Tide * Newbery Medal for children's literature: Jerry Spinelli, Maniac Magee * Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Neil Simon, Lost in Yonkers * Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: John Updike: Rabbit at Rest * Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction: Edward O. Wilson: The Ants * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Mona Van Duyn: Near Changes Elsewhere *Premio Nadal: Alfredo Conde Cid, Los otros días External links * Category:Years in literature Category:History of literature Category:Literature by year